Loose-leaf binder.



E. H. ELDER.

LOOSE LEAF'BINDER. i

APPLICATION FILED DBO. 20, 1910.

1,005,423, Patented Oct. 10, 1911.

WITNESSES:

' pvflriiggog ZM f & By I I fi J ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES A ENT OFFICE.

EDWARD H. ELDER, 0F CHICOPEE FALLS, ll/IASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE NATIONAL BLANK BOOK COMPANY, OF HOLYOKE, MASSACHUSETTS, A COR- PORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

LOOSE-LEAF BINDER. e

. Specification ofLettersifatent P t t t, 10, 1911 Application filed December 20, 1910. Serial No. 598,397.

To all whom it ma concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD I-I. Ema l, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Chicopee Falls, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Loose-Leaf Binders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to loose-leaf binders and particularly to constructions of this character as embodied in such books as notebooks, the object of the invention being to provide means whereby the sheet-retaining element of the binder may be made as light as possible consistent with the required strength and rigidity, and embodying means whereby it may be quickly and securely attached to the covers of the binder along the hinge-line thereof in position to receive the separated sheets of which the book is made up.

The invention is clearly set forth in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,-

Figure 1 is a plan view of the construction embodying the invention showing the sheet receiving element in operative position in the binder, the covers of the latter being opened fiat. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the binder showing the latter in closed position in full lines, the open position of the covers being shown in dotted lines. This view is on a somewhat enlarged scale. Fig. 3 is an isometric view of the sheet-receiving element of the binder as it appears before being applied to the covers, and Fig. 4 is a plan View of themetal blank from which the sheet-retaining device shown in Fig. 3, is made.

Referring now to the drawings, a indicates the covers of the binder, made of flexible material, at least along the hinge-line 6 thereof, at which point the material is folded upon itself, as shown in Fig. 2, to provide an upstanding rib c to which the sheet-receiving element is attached, the latter consisting of a metal back (1 having the loops or rings 6 thereon located at substantially right angles to the lengthwise dimension of the back, and preferably this back portion (Z and the rings or loops 6 are made of one piece of metal from a blank substantially like that shown in Fig. 4, thus providing a back and rings constituting a rigid structure, which is the preferred construction.

In Fig. 4 the same letters of reference are applied to the blank as are used to indicate the like parts of the completed structure shown in Fig. 3.

In the edge of the back d, opposite each of the arms which constitute, (when bent up into circular form) the rings e,a notch f is cut to receive the free end of the ring member 6; and when these rings are bent up, as shown in Fig. 3, these free ends are left spaced apart from the back d to the end that the rib c of the cover may be easily passed through the spaces 9 between the free end of the rings and the back; and when the sheet-receiving element has been properly positioned on this rib 0 (as shown for example in Fig. 1) then the ends of two or more of the rings 6 are pinched down to grip the rib 0 between it and the notch f in the back d. In this way, a portion of the material constituting said rib 0 will be forced somewhat out of line with the rest of the rib and into the notches f, whereby the sheet-receiving element will be securely fastened to the rib and the displacement thereof prevented. Preferably, the notches f and the free ends of the rings are made somewhat rounded to the end that when applied to the rib c and secured thereto in the manner described, the

fabric or material constituting said rib (which isthe hinge-line of the two covers) will not be perforated or broken into, it being clear that where no such puncturing or abrasion of the material takes place the durability of the structure along the hingeline will be greatly enhanced. While the notches 7 have been shown as located opposite each of these ring-members in the back d, it may be possible to do away with some of these and secure the sheet-receiving membars to the rib' c by the ends thereof alone, or at each end and in the center of the back.

The sheets used in the above described binder have perforations extending inward from one border thereof registering with the ring-like members 6, whereby they-may be engaged with said rings in the manner well known in this art.

What I claim, is v I 1. A loose leaf binder comprising covers having an. upstanding rib of flexible material along the hinge-line thereof, and a sheet-rctaining element comprising a metal back piece and ring like members attached ing at a point. near the edge of the back-piece through which opening the said upstanding rib may be passed, whereby-when the ends of the rings are bent in toward said backpiece they may engage the rib.

.2. In a loose-leaf binder, a pair of covers provided with an upstanding rib of flexible material alongthe hinge'line thereof, and a rigid back-piece and integral ring-like members extending from one side of the back-piece to a point near the opposite side thereof, whereby said rib may be passed through the space between the back-piece and the ends of the rings and extend into the latter, the ends of said rings being bent in toward the back-piece to grip said rib.

I 3. A sheet-retaining device for loose-leafbinders comprising a rigid back-piece and integral rings extending across said back 20 from one side thereof to a point near the opposite'side, there being notches in the side of the back-piece contiguous to the free ends of the rings to receive these ends, in combi nation With a pair of binder-covers having 25 an upstanding rib of flexible material along WM. H. CHAPIN, HARRY W. BOWEN. 

